Rails



y 1963 s. H. RASKIN 3,089,650

RAILS Filed May 18, 1962 I-NVENTOR Seymour H. Ruskin United StatesPatent 3,089,650 RAILS Seymour H. Raskin, 4242 Lomo Alto, Dallas, Tex.Filed May 18, 1962, Ser. No. 195,936 6 Claims. (Cl. 238-122) Thisinvention relates to rails and more particularly to rails usable invehicle weighing devices.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationfiled January 28, 1960, Serial No. 5,296, for a weighing device andmethod.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved rail for usein vehicle weighing devices which detect the deflection of the rail as aload rolls over the rail to measure the Weight of the load.

Another object is to provide a rail of a type described having a treadalong which a beveled wheel of a railway vehicle may roll, each point ofthe tread being disposed at the center of gravity of the rail of atransverse cross section thereof so that the deflection of the rail whensupported at its ends will depend only upon the weight of the loadimposed thereon by a wheel rolling along the tread.

Still another object is to provide a rail which is of a substantiallychannel shape and has a longitudinal intermediate rib extending upwardfrom the horizontal web thereof to provide a longitudinally extendingtread, and further has flanges disposed above the tread whereby thecenter of gravity of any cross section of the rail lies at the tread atthat cross section.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be readilyapparent from the reading of the following description of a deviceconstructed in accordance with the invention, and reference to theaccompanying drawings thereof; wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an end view of a rail embodying the invention and showing abeveled flanged wheel, such as a railway vehicle wheel, in positioncontacting the tread of the rail; and,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the rail illustrated in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the rail Iii embodying the invention issubstantially channel shaped, having a base or web portion 11 providedwith integral vertically upwardly extending legs 12 and 13 at the sidesthereof. The base 11 has a fiat bottom surface 15 so that the rail maybe secured at its opposite end portions to any suitable fixed supportsleaving the intermediate portion of the rail free to deflect downwardlyupon the imposition of a load thereon.

An elongate rib 116 integral with the base extends upwardly between thelegs 12 and 13 and has an elongate tread or load bearing surface 18which may be engaged by the beveled annular surface 19* of a railwaywheel 20 as the latter rolls along the rail, thereby to support thewheel and the railway vehicle on which the wheel is mounted. The rib hasan arcuate rounded edge 21 in order to provide clearance for the taperedannular surface 19 of the wheel so that the wheel will rest only uponthe tread. The rounded or arcuate upper surface of the rib is of suchconfiguration as to cause the wheel to engage the rib at the tread 18.In the usual wheels of railroad equipment of the United Statesrailroads, the taper is one to twenty. The rib I6 is disposed closer tothe leg .12 than the leg 13 in order that the elongate groove 22,defined by the sides 23 and 24- of the rib and the leg 13, respectively,is sufliciently wide to accommodate the flange 25 of the wheel 20.

In order that one-half of the area moment of the cross Section of therail be disposed above the tread and onehalf be disposed below thetread, the legs 12 and 13 are provided with outwardly extending flanges30 and 31, which are disposed above the tread 18. One-half of the areamoment of the cross section of the rail lies above the horizontal lineBB passing through the tread 18 and one-half lies below the line BB. Therail is also so dimensioned as by making the leg 13 wider than the leg12 so that one-half of the area moment of the cross section of the railis disposed on one side of the vertical line A-A which passes throughthe tread and one-half on the other. As a result, the center of gravityof any cross section of the rail lies at the tread 18 at such crosssection. The tread itself extends longitudinally at the longitudinalcenter of the rail.

In use, the base 11 of the rail is rigidly secured at its opposite endportions to fixed structures upon which its flat bottom surface 15 restsso that the rail is free to deflect downwardly under the load or weightimposed by any load, such as the wheel 20 as it rolls along the tread 18of the rail. The downward deflection of the rail may be detected andmeasured by any suitable mechanism, such as a load cell disposed belowthe rail in operative engagement with the bottom surface 15 of the raildirectly below the center of gravity of the rail.

Since the load upon the rail is always imposed at a point on the tread18 which is always at the center of gravity of the cross section of therail at such point, the downward deflection of the rail will beproportional to and caused only by the downward force of the load orweight exerted on the rail since any drag or frictional forces betweenthe wheel and the rail will not generate any torsional forces about axestransverse to the longitudinal axis of the rails since such drag orfrictional forces at any point along the rail, whenever the wheel is atany point along the rail, will act at the center of gravity of the crosssection of the rail at such point. Any transversely acting forcesexerted on the rail by the wheel, such as those caused by wind acting onthe vehicle mounted on the wheel, will not generate any torsional forcesacting about taxes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wheel sinceagain such forces will necessarily be exerted atthe center of gravity ofany cross section of the rail at any point at which the wheel contactsthe rail so that such forces will again not result in any verticaldeflection of the rail.

It will be now apparent that a new and improved rail for use in weighingdevices and the like has been illustrated and described which provides atread for the beveled peripheral annular bearing surface of the wheel ofrailway vehicles, the tread being disposed at the center of gravity ofany cross section of the rail.

It will further be seen that the rail includes a base having upwardlyextending legs along the two side edges thereof and an upwardlyextending longitudinally extending rib intermediate the legs whichprovides a tread or contact surface for a beveled wheel.

It will also now be seen that the rib is disposed closer to one of thelegs than the other in order to provide a groove between the rib and oneof the legs of proper width for accommodating the flange of the wheel.

It will further be seen that the upper ends of the legs are providedwith flanges which are disposed above the tread in order to cause thecenter of gravity of the cross section of the rail at any point alongthe length thereof to be at the tread so that one-half of the areamoment of the cross section of the rail is disposed above the tread andone-half is disposed below the tread.

It will further be noted that the relative dimensions of the varioussections of the rail are so dimensioned that one-half of the area momentof the cross section of the rail is disposed to one side of the treadand one-half to the other side of the tread.

It will further be noted that the tread extends along a longitudinalline on the rib which is disposed midway between the outer ends of theflanges of the rail.

It will further be seen that due to the placement of the tread at thecenter of gravity of the rail that any vertical deflection of the railcaused by an object which is moving longitudinally across the rail issupported by the tread thereof is proportional only to the weightimposed by the object on the rail and does not vary in accordance withthe drag or frictional forces between the rail and the object or anyother extraneous forces exerted by the object on the rail, such aslateral forces due to wind acting on the object.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory only, andchanges in the details of the construction illustrated may be made bythose skilled in the art, within the scope of the appended claims,without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A rail including: a base; a pair of legs integral with the base andextending upwardly therefrom at the sides thereof; a rib extendingupwardly from the base and providing a longitudinally extending tread,the center of gravity of any cross section of said rail being at thetread.

2. A rail including: a base; a pair of legs integral with the base andextending upwardly therefrom at the sides thereof; a rib extendingupwardly from the base and providing a longitudinally extending tread,said legs having outwardly extending flanges whereby one-half of themass of the rail is disposed above the tread and the other one-half ofthe mass of the rail is disposed below the tread, one-half of the areamoment of the cross section being disposed to one side of the tread andthe other onehalf of the mass of the rail being disposed to the otherside of the tread, the center of gravity of any cross section of saidrail being disposed at the tread.

3. A rail including: an elongate horizontal base having integral legsextending upwardly from said base at the sides thereof; a rib extendingvertically upwardly from said base between said legs and in parallelspaced relation thereto, said rib having a horizontal longitudinallyextending tread for supporting a beveled wheel as it runs therealong,said legs having outwardly extending flanges disposed above said tread,the center of gravity of said rail being disposed on said tread, saidrail being uniform in cross section throughout its length.

4-. A rail including: an elongate horizontal base having integral legsextending upwardly from said base at the sides thereof; a rib extendingvertically upwardly from said base between said legs and in parallelspaced relation thereto, said rib having a horizontal longitudinallyextending tread for supporting a beveled wheel as it runs therealong,said rib being disposed parallel and spaced to the central longitudinalaxis of said rail, said tread extending longitudinally centrally of saidrail, said legs having outwardly extending flanges disposed above saidtread, the center of gravity of said rail lying on said tread, said railbeing uniform in cross section throughout its length. I

5. A rail including: a base, a pair of legs integral wit the base andextending upwardly therefrom at the sides thereof; a rib extendingupwardly from the base and providing a longitudinally extending tread,the center of gravity of any cross section of said rail being disposedat the tread, said tread being longitudinally centrally disposedrelative to said rail.

6. A rail including: a base, a pair of legs integral with the base andextending upwardly therefrom at the sides thereof; a rib extendingupwardly from the base and providing a longitudinally extending tread,said legs having outwardly extending flanges whereby one-half of thearea moment of the cross section of the rail is disposed above the treadand one-half is disposed below the tread, one-half of the area moment ofthe cross section of the rail being disposed to one side of the treadand the other one-half being disposed to the other side of the tread,the center of any cross section of said rail being disposed at thetread, said tread being longitudinally centrally disposed relative tosaid rail.

No references cited.

4. A RAIL INCLUDING: AN ELONGATE HORIZONTAL BASE HAVING INTEGRAL LEGSEXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASE AT THE SIDES THEREOF; A RIB EXTENDINGVERTICALLY UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASE BETWEEN SAID LEGS AND IN PARALLELSPACED RELATION THERETO, SAID RIB HAVING A HORIZONTAL LONGITUDINALLYEXTENDING TREAD FOR SUPPORTING A BEVELED WHEEL AS IT RUNS THEREALONG,SAID RIB BEING DISPOSED PARALLEL AND SPACED TO THE CENTRAL LONGITUDINALAXIS OF SAID RAIL, SAID TREAD EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY CENTRALLY OF SAIDRAIL, SAID LEGS HAVING OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGES DISPOSED ABOVE SAID